A Hero's Sacrifice
by HealingPasts
Summary: Mephiles was suppose to be dead. What if though, Mephiles wasn't dead for good, and what if a new group of heroes were the only thing that stood in Mephiles' way for the world's destruction? Please read and review, I need some suggestions for this!
1. Chapter 1

A Hero's Sacrifice

**A Hero's Sacrifice**

**Chapter One**

The brilliant moonlight shinned upon the tall grass that surrounded a small tree; a small sprinkle of rain had started to pour but the light of the moon made the drops appear to glow and seem almost magical. In the distance, this sight was being memorized into a memory as a young hedgehog stood by a large tree. Bright cyan eyes and cyan streaks were all that were seen in the darkness of the night.

"Wow… amazing…" was all that came from the small hedgehog. The leaves of the trees and the grass blades were being caressed by the silent wind that made the scent of the peacefulness come to her and that made a smile grow on her face. She giggled happily as the sprinkle of rain began to fall onto her gently, almost like a comforting touch; to her it felt great, even like a blessing as she spun around in the tall grass.

As she giggled and spun around, the moonlight was beginning to be concealed by the approaching storm clouds. The rain poured harder and that's when she froze and looked up at the sky with slight fear.

"Please don't let it thunder… don't let it thunder! PLEASE!" her thoughts screamed as lightning began to flash across her line of view. She whimpered slightly and she even began to shiver at the thought of thunder as she kept her eyes on the sky. Her thought's screams were ignored and a loud clash of thunder made her jump almost 10 feet in the air.

"Leave me alone! Go away!" she shrieked as her eyes were wide and she backed away slightly. Another quick flash of lightning left her running before another roar of thunder pierced her ears. She was a black and cyan blur that could've put the fierce blowing wind to shame if she had the intention to; the only thing that kept her going was the thunder and her being in the rain.

"I want to go home! I want to go home!" she began crying out as thunder began to shake the ground below her every 2 minutes. She shrieked each time the ground shook and she cried every time she tripped. She kept running from the thunder until she crashed into a sign and she fell to the ground. Whimpering, the hedgehog read it out loud.

"Cemetery? What's a-"

A clash of thunder left her to scream as she stumbled to her feet and quickly dashed toward some black iron gates. She kicked the gate and it flung open as though a force from the inside opened it just for her. She scurried inside and she ran past all the headstones and toward the safety of a tree. The hedgehog shook the raindrops from her spikes and she looked around to see what this so called cemetery was.

All she saw were headstones that were too weathered to read, eroded to make out a name, or were pure white with a black X painted in the middle of it; eventually however she would understand what those X's meant. Limp tall grass tickled her legs as she wrapped her arms around her legs that were pressed against her chest. She buried her face into them and her silver tears soaked through her dress and fell down her face like waterfalls.

"I want to go home, I want to go home… I _need _to go home," she whimpered as she kept crying miserably. "Why can't someone help me for once rather than leave me out here on my own? WHY!" she shrieked the last part as thunder slammed against the tree she was under and she heard a loud crack.

She backed away from the tree slightly and saw that it was falling toward her; her eyes widened and she was frozen like a deer in headlights. She screamed out for help as she held her head and closed her eyes, waiting for the pain that was sure to kill her instantly. Nothing came for a long moment; no sounds of bones breaking under a heavy tree, no tree slamming against the ground, nothing but the heavy rain falling to the ground and the soft wind. Taking a risk, the hedgehog opened her eyes and she felt like her heart stopped completely.

In front of her was a hedgehog; it was dark colored with gray streaks, and dark green eyes. It wasn't the hedgehog himself that frightened her but it was the fact that the tree that was destined to crush her and kill her… was blasted away from her and now laid in splinter sized pieces next to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked calmly, almost as though the tree never existed.

"Y-yeah…"

"I'm… sorry if I scared you."

"Who are you?"

"I… I am Dark the hedgehog. But most people call me Mephiles," he replied quietly, almost cautiously as though to see if the last name rang a bell. It didn't.

"Thank you Mephiles, I'm Chaos the hedgehog."

"Chaos? What a strange name for such a young girl."

Chaos grinned and she got up from the wet ground, she looked at the splinters and she questioned, "you did that right?"

Mephiles nodded slowly and he looked at her with a curious glance.

"Tell me Chaos… where am I?"

"A cemetery."

"And why were you running?"

Chaos frowned and replied in a whisper, "I was scared. Thunder scares me so it was only natural for me to freak out."

Mephiles seemed to smile slightly at that and he held out his hand, "take my hand. I would like to show you something. Take it as a gift of friendship."

"Friendship? But I only met you."

"True, but to me anyone I just meet is already a friend. Will you accept it?" he questioned, his voice rang with horror that she might refuse.

Chaos looked at his hand and she smiled gently. Her own-gloved hand took his and her innocent cyan eyes looked at him, "what's the gift?"

Mephiles smiled widely, he laughed loudly and this made a shiver run down Chaos' back. She tried to pull away from him, but his grip already held tightly to her hand.

"Simple… there is no gift. But instead you are my servant. Thank you for your body Chaos the hedgehog," he replied insanely as he used chaos control. The duo then vanished from the cemetery without a trace.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

The storm that lingered over the Sonic Headquarters seemed to drag on forever in Silver's mind. His golden eyes watched as lightning traced where the dark clouds concealed the once brilliant moon, and he also watched as everything in his small room shook every time the thunder roared. He yawned tiredly as he turned to see Sonic laying on his bed, just as bored, and Shadow who was listening to the rain falling.

"_I wonder if there is the slightest chance of this storm uplifting. I mean it's been about a year since Mephiles died… we should be happy, not down because it's raining right?" _thought Silver as he jumped when an unexpected crash of thunder shook the headquarters so hard that an alarm clock fell off the nearby nightstand.

"So… what now?" asked Shadow as he turned his attention to Silver.

"I don't know, any ideas Sonic?"

Sonic stared at the ceiling and he yawned, "I don't know and I don't care. I'm going to bed. I'm dead tired."

"Speaking of dead, Mephiles has a headstone now right?"

"Yep, and no matter how I look at it, I say he doesn't deserve one," replied Shadow as he closed his eyes. Even though it'd been about a year since his death, no one really got over it.

"I agree fully on that one Emo."

"Don't call me that," said Shadow quickly. Silence filled the air around them as the flashes of lightning filled the dark room. Sonic sighed as he turned on his side, threw the blankets over himself and he listened to Silver and Shadow bickering.

X X X X X X X X X X X

Soon however, Sonic found himself in a world where Shadow and Silver's bickering no longer could be heard and where the thunder, lightning and rain were a thing of the past; clear, open fields filled his dream. Flowers and streams existed as he looked at the bright blue sky that spelled 'peace'. He grinned as he dashed off into the horizon, but he just appeared as a blue blur.

A few moments passed and Sonic skidded to a halt as he approached a headstone; it was dark colored, almost glowing in a dark aurora that made him feel slightly nervous and sick at the same time, and it looked very old. Suddenly a chuckle was ringing through the air as the headstone flashed black and the peaceful scenery vanished into the approaching darkness.

"Well look at this, Sonic the Hedgehog," said a voice that Sonic knew almost instantly, Mephiles.

Sonic said nothing as he began walking through the darkness, trying to find his way out of this weird part of the dream. The laughing got louder and louder until he came face to face with a dark purple hedgehog. Sonic jumped back in surprise and he dashed away in a blur before Mephiles had the chance to say anything. He kept running until he came face to face with that same hedgehog.

"Mephiles! Leave me alone! You're suppose to be dead! Out of my head! Now get!"

Mephiles smirked as another laugh escaped, "dead? I'm sorry I don't believe that's in my dictionary unless you're the one that's suppose to die," he replied calmly.

"You're dead."

"Am I really dead though?" Mephiles suddenly questioned as his form changed into a black hedgehog with cyan streaks and innocent cyan eyes, "or am I still alive but in a different form?"

Sonic studied the new form and for some reason he felt his heart beating at more than 50 miles an hour. He felt tense, scared and nervous for no reason in his mind. He was about to ask if this was a dream as well but he never got to it. Mephiles and his new form vanished into the darkness and the darkness faded until the peaceful scenery returned. He had to blink twice to make sure Mephiles wasn't around. His heart still pounded horribly fast as he saw Silver and Shadow approach him; they looked slightly nervous and worried.

"Guys what's wrong?"

"Sonic… WAKE UP!!" the duo shouted.

X X X X X X X X X X X

"Sonic… WAKE UP!!" shouted Shadow and Silver by Sonic's ear. Sonic bolted into an upright position and he gasped in surprise. His heart still felt like it was being beaten around as he looked around quickly.

"What? Wait?! What…"

"Knuckles is at the door, he says it's something important," replied Silver as he noticed Sonic's scared expression, "Sonic? What's wrong?"

"Um… nothing. It's just a bad dream. Lets just go see what Knuckles wants."

Sonic got to his feet, and in a blur he was running toward the front door. Shadow and Silver nodded as they followed suit, in black and silver blurs.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

The trio hedgehogs made it down to the front door with ease; and in a new record time, 15 seconds. Sonic looked at the door for a long moment until he finally grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Outside in the heavily falling rain and flashes of lightning was Knuckles the echidna; his bold eyes looked at the trio with seriousness but his eyes weren't what caught Silver's attention. In Knuckles' arms was a young hedgehog that was maybe 10 years old, and standing behind Knuckles were three other anthros that were hidden in the darkness of the night.

"Knuckles? What… who are they?"

"Just let me in, I'll explain all that I know," he replied quickly and urgently. Shadow took the hedgehog from Knuckles' arms and carried him to the couch in their large living room. Shadow frowned as he glanced back at the others; Knuckles walked inside and he turned around.

"Come on in… it's safe."

The three anthros gave fearful glances at Sonic and Silver as they slowly and cautiously walked in. In the light, the trio hedgehogs realized they weren't just one species. There was a bat, a chameleon, and a cat. Knuckles motioned toward the chairs that sat scattered across the room, and as though they were controlled, they all sat down obediently without a word.

The chameleon stuck out as the strangest one out of the bunch, she was red with gold eyes. She wore black gloves and black and white boots.

The bat was next strangest; he had midnight black fur, with orphan blue eyes. He had dark blue wings, but one seemed strangely crooked, wore white gloves, black ninja outfit that made Shadow think it was the one similar to Rouge's except without the chest plate, and blue and white knee high boots. Around one of his arms, was a white bandage that had a slight red line running down it.

The cat was quiet as she sat down. Her pure white fur and black design on her back made her seem adorable, but her fierce light blue and gray mixed eyes made her seem slightly scary. She had a long tail that wrapped around her legs nervously. She wore black and gray running shoes, white gloves that had black cuffs, and a long cloak that went down to her knees.

"Who do we have here?" asked Silver as he looked at the cat. He began thinking about Blaze who he hadn't seen in ages, and how he missed her a lot.

"Well I only got two names out of the four of them. The bat is named Cylis, and the hedgehog is named Zero," replied Knuckles sadly.

Shadow, Silver and Sonic all sat down on the floor and looked up at Knuckles as though it was story time for a bunch of little kids.

"What's the story on this one?"

"Well… it started off like any other night like this, I was reading, trying to pass the time…"

X X X X X X X X X X X

The rainfall had just gotten heavier and the crash of thunder made reading no easier for Knuckles the echidna. He was halfway through the book that he already had read more than 3 times already; with a bored sigh he placed the book aside. He was under a hand made tent and he had made himself a hammock for the night.

He gazed at the flashes of lightning and tried to imagine them as fireworks… very dull, colorless fireworks. Knuckles sighed again and he rolled onto his side in his hammock, "might as well try to get some sleep," he mumbled as he already felt his eyes droop. When they closed he was flung into his pleasant dream.

The sudden sounds of shrieks, whimpers, and a loud explosion was what woke Knuckles from his slumber and caused him to be furious at the source of all the commotion. As soon as he sat up, the sound died down and the only sounds were whimpering. The echidna got out of the hammock and followed the sound of the whimpers and he soon saw what caused it.

"Hello? Are you okay?" he questioned as he saw the bat, chameleon, and cat surround a small figure in the grassy plains. They all looked at Knuckles and they moved away from him. He held up his hands as though to tell them to hold on a second, and they didn't move. He slowly walked toward them; he knelt beside the hedgehog that lay on the ground. He checked for a pulse and was relieved to feel the faint pulse.

"Who is he?" asked Knuckles as he looked at the bat.

"Zero is his name sir," replied the bat.

"And who are you all?"

"I'm Cylis the bat."

Knuckles waited for the others to say their name but they said nothing. "Why aren't they-"

"They're scared of you."

"Scared of me?"

Cylis nodded. "Please… help Zero… he got the worse damages."

Knuckles nodded as he lifted Zero and realized what Cylis meant; Zero's head was badly banged up, and his body felt very limp. He looked at Zero carefully and realized he looked a bit like Sonic; he had dark colored fur, maybe a mix between black and dark teal, and he wore gloves very similar to Sonic's and running shoes that were white and green. He looked at the trio, taking in their appearances for future references and he said, "I know where to get help, but you have to follow me and promise you won't fall too far behind."

The trio nodded slowly and they swiftly followed Knuckles.

X X X X X X X X X X X

"So we all ran here as fast as we could and that leaves us to what's happening now," finished Knuckles as he looked at Sonic, Silver and Shadow for a reaction. He jumped slightly at the sound of thunder in the distance; the storm was passing now.

Sonic yawned widely as he rubbed his eyes, Shadow nodded as he glanced at the bat, and Silver seemed the most attentive out of the trio. Knuckles then asked, "So can you help?"

"Well… Tails is out of town so we really can't do much for Zero, but as for the others, we should check for injuries."

"Did that. They're perfectly okay, except Cylis and Zero. Cylis has a broken wing and a bad cut on his arm, which I treated already, and Zero has the worse damages. That's all I know," Knuckles replied automatically and he sighed.

"Okay so if we know that much, lets let them sleep. We all need the sleep, in the morning we'll figure this out."

Knuckles nodded to that idea along with Shadow. Sonic looked at Zero and he said, "You guys go. I'll catch up on my sleep some other time."

"Huh?"

"Well we don't know much about them. I just want to make sure they don't try anything funny."

Shadow nodded, "do you need help with that?"

"No I should be fine. Tails will be here in the morning anyways so we'll wait. Get some sleep guys."

Silver nodded, Shadow shrugged and replied, "eh, your loss."

Knuckles looked at the trio, "Zero will be fine, Sonic will watch him, for now though please follow me."

The trio got up and followed Knuckles to the guest bedrooms. The duo hedgehogs glanced at Sonic and darted off back to their room in black and silver blurs. Sonic sat down in a recliner and he leaned back in it, making it almost as flat as a bed would be. He looked at Zero and he whispered, "night Zero… hope you get well soon…"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

In the small living room where Sonic laid on the recliner, fast asleep, sunlight spilled through the curtains that were slightly pulled away from each other and the gentle breeze of a new day blew throughout Sonic's Headquarters. The first one down the stairs and already getting ready to make breakfast was Silver the hedgehog; it was obvious that he needed something to do so it was his job to make breakfast.

He walked silently past Zero and Sonic and into the small kitchen. He looked around and asked himself, "Okay, what should I make for the gang today? Pancakes? Waffles? Maybe scrambled eggs with toast?"

Silver walked over to the refrigerator and realized that there were no eggs, and this surprised him.

"I don't get it. I could've sworn I bought eggs the other… huh? How'd these end up over here?"

On the table were the things Silver needed to prepare breakfast; eggs, a small bowl with a fork, bread, butter, and anything else needed. His gold eyes looked around and they froze on a small figure in the cool shadows. Silver smiled, as he asked, "Aren't you from last night? The new arrival?"

The figure's head nodded, and the cat stepped out to reveal her light blue and gray mixed eyes staring at him. Silver kept his smile as he questioned, "Would you like to help me with breakfast?"

The cat looked down but said or did nothing. Silver's smile faded into a slight frown.

"Y-you don't have to help if you don't want to."

"I… I'll help. I'll help," the cat's small, melodic voice chimed.

Silver smiled and his gold eyes lit up with happiness, "okay, um… can you put the eggs into that bowl and mix them up?"

The cat, very small in size looked at the table and she crawled up one of the chairs, stood on it and began doing the instructions that Silver gave her. Silver began making toast and he grabbed a plastic jar of peanut butter and a small jar of jelly and he placed it on the table.

"Um… so what's your name? I'm Silver the Hedgehog."

The small noise of mixing stopped and she showed him it, "did I do good?"

Silver nodded and he took it carefully and placed the mixed eggs onto a frying pan and began making the eggs.

"Eclipse…"

"Huh?"

"T-that's my name. Eclipse the cat."

Silver smiled, happy to finally get a name out of her, "it's nice to meet you."

Eclipse nodded as she helped Silver with other chores that needed to be done while breakfast was being made. After 30 minutes passed, breakfast was made and Silver grinned at Eclipse.

"Thanks, I appreciate the help."

"You're welcome!"

Silver grabbed the plates from the counter and placed them on the table. He then cleared his throat, "you may want to cover your ears."

Eclipse gave a confused look as she did; Silver then shouted at the top of his lungs, "ANYONE WHO IS HUNGRY PLEASE REPORT TO THE KITCHEN!!"

Once Silver's voice echoed throughout the small kitchen, Eclipse uncovered her ears and for once she held a grin. The hedgehog led Eclipse to a chair and helped her into it. He got on his chair and began eating, waiting for everyone else to come along.

No sooner did Silver and Eclipse sit down, Shadow, Cylis, Knuckles and the chameleon dashed toward the kitchen and took their seats. Shadow gave Silver a quick glare that said, "don't ever shout like that again," but of course, the hedgehog took no real notice of the glare.

"Morning Cylis, morning Hidden," said Eclipse quietly as she bit into her piece of peanut butter toast.

"Morning Eclipse," replied the duo at the same time.

The rest of breakfast was eaten in complete silence except one time where Hidden and Cylis began arguing because Hidden "accidentally" elbowed him. Shadow was the first one out of the kitchen, then Hidden and Cylis fled, and Silver walked away after debating whether to not to help Knuckles do the dishes.

"So your name is Eclipse?"

The white cat nodded, "that's correct."

"Why do they call you that?"

"I was born during an eclipse… why do they call you Knuckles?" asked Eclipse.

Knuckles chuckled before holding up his hands, showing the spikes on the knuckles of his gloves, "this might be the reason why."

Eclipse nodded. She stood on her chair and she looked around silently. Knuckles turned away from her and he began putting the dishes into the sink; a few minutes later after drawing hot water, bubbles began to rise and the signs of dishes even being there had disappeared. He began humming as he began washing away.

The cat frowned and she quickly and silently ran out of the room and as she did, she crashed into a light orange Kitsune. The Kitsune's blue eyes stared at Eclipse as though she was a thief and he yelped in surprise.

"W-who are you?"

Eclipse stayed silent, thinking she did something wrong. She instead sat down and she looked like she would cry any moment.

"I'm Tails… but… you're a little strange…"

"Don't mind her, that's Eclipse the cat," said Silver as he walked up behind Tails.

Tails looked very confused as Silver grinned, "I'll explain it on our way to get Sonic up and check on Zero."

Silver began to lead the way to the living room, Tails nodding as the hedgehog began telling him the story. Eclipse watched and she frowned, "Hidden."

"Yeah?" questioned the chameleon as she appeared beside Eclipse.

"They're going to question us."

"How do you know that?"

Eclipse didn't say anything for a long while. She pulled her knees up to her chest and she looked at the floor. She sighed and finally replied, "I just know."

Hidden nodded and she frowned, "Are you going to be okay?"

The cat nodded slowly as she stood up and dashed after Silver and Tails to find out how Zero was doing. When they got to the living room, their eyes widened and they stared in surprise; sitting up and talking to Sonic was none other than Zero.

"Zero!" cheered Eclipse as she dashed over and hugged him. Zero blinked and he slowly returned the hug.

"Hi Eclipse. Sonic, this is Eclipse the cat, and the chameleon that just entered is Hidden."

Sonic grinned at them and nodded. Silver walked over to Sonic with Tails following close by.

"Hey guys, um… can we… interview you?"

"Interview? What's that?" questioned Hidden as she looked at Zero.

"Interviewing is sort of like asking questions," replied Zero as he yawned. He looked at the girls and nodded after a while. "We'll be glad to interview you… one question before we start… where is Cylis?"

Dead silence followed after that question for no one really knew where he was. Sonic looked at everyone, "erm… the bat?"

"Yes the bat!"

Sonic sweat dropped along with Silver. Eclipse kept her hug on Zero and she looked worried.

"I'll go look! Be right back!" she shouted as she disappeared from right in front of them.

"Where'd she go?" asked Silver instantly.

"She chaos controlled… you didn't know about that?"

Silver shook his head. He was about to say something to Hidden until there were two high-pitched screams… they were Cylis and Eclipse's screams.

"Guys! I'm coming!" yelled Zero as he shot up to his feet, and he swayed a little out of dizziness. He shook his head and turned into a dark green blur as he shot toward the screams. Everyone followed and Sonic was dashing beside Zero, he wanted to know what was going on. The screams were getting louder and one was filled with horrifying pain.

Zero came to a closed door and he slammed into it as hard as he could but it didn't budge. Sonic and Zero tried to get the door to open but nothing happened.

"Move," said a calm voice.

Shadow looked at the door and when the duo moved out of the way, he used his chaos spears and the door fell down. Zero stayed still when he saw a black hedgehog with cyan streaks holding onto Eclipse's neck. Cylis was against the wall knocked unconscious.

"C-Chaos?!"

The hedgehog froze and looked at Zero with lime green, deadly eyes. She grinned widely and evilly as she threw Eclipse toward a wall and she slammed into it and laid on the ground motionless. Chaos looked at Sonic, Silver, and Shadow and her eyes suddenly flashed from lime green to cyan. She fell to the ground, as standing over her was Mephiles. He grinned and he laughed.

"Well isn't it the three hedgehogs that killed me before. I found a loophole to this, I find someone to control for a while, steal half of his or her life away, and I can come back."

The trio didn't move, but already Zero was beside Cylis checking for injuries and he looked very scared. Silver and Shadow got ready to fight instantly, but Sonic didn't move or look like he was paying attention. Shadow was the first to notice, "Sonic?"

Mephiles grinned, "he can't hear you. He's mine," he said insanely as Sonic's eyes began to turn a lighter shade of green. Mephiles laughed insanely as he disappeared and reappeared behind Shadow and Silver, kicking them away and grabbing Sonic.

"Say good bye to your future, because this world is mine!"

Mephiles laughed as he vanished. His insane laughter echoed throughout the headquarters and Zero still said or did nothing.

"Sonic!" shouted Knuckles. Shadow sighed.

"But Mephiles is-"

"Dead? Apparently he's not. We're officially screwed," said Shadow as he sat down against the wall following Silver. Everyone was dead silent, and no one dared to move or say anything.

"Grandpa…"

Silver's ears twitched at that and he looked at Zero who was crying. "Who's your grandpa?"

"… Sonic… I'm from the future and now I won't have a future!" he cried out. Everyone stared at Zero; Shadow, Silver, Knuckles, and Tails' eyes were as wide as they could get, their mouths were gapped open and they all stared.

"SONIC'S YOUR GRANDPA?!" they shouted horrified. Zero nodded and the last thing the foursome remembered was everything turning dark, then nothing else.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

"Knuckles, Tails… get up already! It's almost dark! GET UP!!" yelled Silver and Hidden. Knuckles groaned as he sat up, holding his head, and Tails got up looking like he just got off a very fast merry-go-round and his head swayed from side to side.

"What… happened?"

"We fainted."

"We?" asked Tails.

Shadow appeared holding onto Cylis' hand, "that's right. You'll never believe what the story is behind these guys is."

"Story? Dude how long were we out?"

Silver looked around, "maybe… three hours?" he suggested as he shrugged. Knuckles was surprised to see that they all were still in the same room they fainted in. "Anyways, while you two were sleeping off the surprise of Sonic being a grandfather in the future, we interviewed Cylis and Zero."

"Cool… so what'd we find out?"

"Lets listen to Zero's interview first," said Shadow as everyone was led into a small room that was filled with electronics of all kinds. Shadow walked over to one machine and put in a CD into a CD drive. He began typing rapidly, not nearly as fast as Tails ever could but it still was quick. He finally pressed the enter key and he smiled.

"Okay, here's the interview with Zero, whatever you guys do, please don't faint again."

"Deal. Lets hear it!"

Shadow nodded as he pushed the play button and the sound of muttering in the background was heard clearly as though Knuckles and Tails was sitting in front of the speakers, listening to everything first handedly.

"Hey Zero… can I talk to you?"

"Sure. Can we talk somewhere else though?"

"Yea, follow me," said Silver. There was a long pause, obviously Silver turned off the recorder so there would be no long waiting periods. Suddenly Silver's voice came back, "testing recorder, one, two, three, testing. Interview Number One, with Zero the Hedgehog."

"Testing, testing… Zero the hedgehog here… interviewer is Silver the hedgehog."

"Okay with that said, lets begin. What's going on?"

"What do you mean exactly?" questioned Zero.

"I mean, who's Chaos? Are you all from the future? How'd you meet? How do you know Mephiles?"

There was another soft pause and suddenly nervous chuckling was heard, "well… it's sort of hard… I'll have Eclipse and Hidden explain-"

"No, you explain."

Zero sighed, "fine. First of all, we're not all from the future. Hidden, Cylis and I are from the future; Eclipse is… strange… I won't spoil her past though. And we all met due to Eclipse's actions. Once again, Eclipse or Hidden will explain that."

"Okay so who's Chaos?"

"Well I should explain my family line before I tell you. You see… you already know that Sonic is my grandpa, as for my grandma, that's Amy Rose. Amy was in danger of Mephiles the Dark, and Sonic risked his life for her and ultimately he fell in love with her. They decided that they would start a family, and when Amy considered marriage, Sonic said no."

"Why'd he say no?"

"The way he saw it was that by marrying Amy, then he'd be giving up his freedom. And that was a major don't. So Amy agreed to start a family with him, but they would not officially get married. About ten years later, they had two kids. One died though after a brawl on the streets that Sonic couldn't make it in time to save her but to stop the brawl before anyone else was killed. That left my dad. He met up with another hedgehog and soon they had Chaos and I. So therefore, Chaos is my sister."

"So if Chaos is your sister… then how come you two weren't together?"

"We weren't together because Chaos disappeared. In the future, Mephiles' rule is that if we cannot obey the rules or if we turn into rebels, we'd get sentenced to a life of death and torture. Chaos and I were the ones who first realized that Mephiles killed our grandpa, so we agreed that we'd try to stop him. And how we'd do that was sort of a secret."

"Okay, so if you had a plan, what'd you do after?"

"Chaos was the one that suggested that she'd try to take down Mephiles by herself, but that was a failed attempt. She was going to be killed but I stopped her death and she escaped. When Mephiles was about to kill me though, he sensed that Chaos had fled to the past, and that put him in a rage spell."

"Your sister fled to the past… and Mephiles got mad… I think I follow, but what happened to you?"

There was silence then a small, "I don't remember. I only remember waking up with Hidden and Cylis by my side and they led me out of a dark dungeon of some sort."

"Who's Cylis and Hidden really? I mean are they good guys or what?" questioned Silver, it was apparent in the way he talked that he was instantly hooked on the story.

"Cylis is Rouge the bat's grandson… or was it great grandson."

"How's it great grandson?"

"I honestly don't know, it's hard to explain."

"Anyways. So Cylis is Rouge the bat's future grandson or whatever. Don't tell me that Hidden is Espio's kid!"

"Nope… her family died a while ago and she doesn't remember her past and the rest of us don't know who her family relations are. But yes, they're both good guys."

"Lets see if I follow right. Hidden, Cylis and yourself are all from the future, where Mephiles has complete control over the world. Sonic dies, and your sister disappear. Something happened during Mephiles rage spell and that left you with a memory gap. Then you just remember being with Hidden and Cylis… did I get that right?"

"Yea… you did."

There was another long pause. For a moment Knuckles and Tails believed the interview was over but another question shot out of the speaker before the duo could say anything, "Can you at least tell me how Eclipse got involved?"

"… There was an incident that slightly altered the future… she was attacked by Mephiles and nearly killed. Hidden rescued her but Mephiles did something out of bounds. He sent his power into her… so if he died, he could come back through Eclipse's dreams."

"What?"

"If Eclipse dies, then Mephiles does as well."

"Isn't there another-"

"Can we stop? I don't want to talk about it anymore," said Zero almost in a pained tone. There was something that cut Tails and Knuckles deep.

"Yea… thanks for taking time to explain a little. Interview Number One over."

Shadow took out the CD and looked at everyone, "and there we have it." No one said anything or even moved. Tails' eyes were glued to the floor and Knuckles' feet shuffled a little as he glanced around.

"Where's Sonic?"

Everyone turned toward the exit to see a pink hedgehog, Amy Rose, standing there. They all remained silent.

"Gone, Mephiles kidnapped him," said Eclipse as she walked up behind Amy. Amy looked at Eclipse and her eyes began watering, she felt guilty because she wasn't there to stop Mephiles from kidnapping Sonic. Turning around and running, she was crying her heart out. Everyone looked at Eclipse who looked at Silver. "You were going to ask if there was another way. And Zero would've had to say no there wasn't another known way."

"How did you know?"

Eclipse's eyes filled with tears as she whispered, "I just do…" she turned away from them. "You might as well get rid of me now."

Zero took a step toward Eclipse, "Eclipse… don't act-"

"Act like what? A responsible person who takes account of other people's life because Mephiles lives in me!"

"Eclipse! We're not going to kill you!"

Eclipse didn't say anything. She walked away and slammed the door to the small electronic room. Zero looked down sadly.

"There's another part of the tale isn't there?" asked Shadow. Zero nodded and pointed to Hidden.

"Ask her."

"Want to be interviewed Hidden?"

Hidden nodded, staying silent, and she walked to the interview room. Tails followed Hidden and Knuckles decided he would be the interviewer. Shadow and Silver looked at Zero and Cylis.

"We're sorry," said Cylis as he looked down.

"That's okay. I'm sure Amy and Eclipse will be fine. Meanwhile we will have to find the duo and calm them down… think we can do that?"

"I'm sure we can get Amy to calm down easily, but as for Eclipse… no," replied Zero.

Silver then asked, "Zero… Cylis, does she have a family?"

The duo shrugged, "we don't know. Eclipse wouldn't tell us anything after Hidden rescued her. I think in a way, she was too scared to admit that her past was bad, but we never will say that in front of her."

Silver and Shadow nodded, "good choice. Lets find Amy," Shadow said quietly as he opened the door back up and began walking toward Amy's room. The others followed, and as they passed one room, Zero and Cylis could clearly hear Hidden crying loudly.


End file.
